Author name: JFS

Ravishing Redbuds

Redbud trees are a timeless favorite, cherished for their graceful form, vibrant blooms, and seasonal interest. These enchanting trees signal the arrival of spring with delicate, pea-like blossoms that emerge along bare branches, painting the landscape with shades of pink, purple, and even creamy white. As the flowers fade, lush heart-shaped leaves emerge, with the […]

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Pretty in Pink

Flowering plums jumpstart spring The crescendo of crocus and dawning of daffodils are sure signs of spring as they bloom in concert with our earliest flowering trees. Ornamental flowering plums are among the first to flaunt their cheerful and fragrant pink blossoms. You know that spring is in the air when the tight buds of

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Heads Up!

Good things come in small packages, and the same can be said for flowering shrubs grown topiary-style. Grown as single-stem standards, these stunning tree-form shrubs bring beauty to eye level and lend a formal air to landscape plantings. Our tree form hydrangeas feature strong stems and sturdy, upright branches that support bright waves of flowers

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In Search of the Best

The story of our “Search for the Best” ornamental crabapples is shared in the current edition of Malus, Journal of the International Ornamental Crabapple Society. Authored by Guy Meacham, JFS New Plant Development Manager, In Search of the Best (page 24) describes the multi-generational quest undertaken by the Schmidt family and staff to breed, trial,

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Serving Up Serviceberries

Autumn Brilliance® Serviceberry joined our Redpointe® Maple in earning the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Plant Award for 2025.This prestigious honor shines a light on this fine tree and others of its species. Native to a wide range of landscape types and regions across North America, serviceberries bloom reliably in the early spring and merit

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Fall is for planting trees and cultivating relationships

“Fall Is for Planting” is a familiar phrase in the tree world, and we do plenty of fall planting on our farms. Autumn is also our season for cultivating relationships with tree specifiers by attending their national conferences. Since 1995, we’ve attended the  Conference on Landscape Architecture, presented annually in October by the American Society

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